My son is just over three years old and recently has started drooling again... a LOT! Could he be teething? He saw the dentist 2 months ago and he only has 18 of 20 baby teeth... I wonder if he is getting his last two teeth. Why all of a sudden is he drooling a lot with these last two when he hasn't been drooling with any of the other teeth past his first birthday? He also has a red rash around his chin which I am sure is related to the drooling.

Has anyone else experienced this sudden onset of drooling in an older child?

My son did this. I researched it and found that overproduction of saliva was uncommon. My son had/has severe food aversions which caused him to develop nutritional deficiencies. These deficiencies caused him to develop sores in his mouth and this caused drooling. So something like canker sores is a possibility. Another possibility is a sore throat, strep? tonsilitis? I don't think that "teething" generally causes drooling in older kids.

Does he have any difficulty with eating or speaking? I was wondering if it could have to do with low muscle tone around his mouth. Do you notice that his mouth is "open" a lot? Or does it occur more when he is eating? It makes sense if there were some sores in their or something that that could be related. I would NOT think that just having two teeth still coming on it would be a cause.

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I was a drooler. Until I was about 4 I had a constant wet spot on the collar of my shirts. I don't remember it, but I know I didn't have mouth sores, food issues, or poor muscle tone. My mom ended up just reminding me to close my mouth throughout the day and eventually I got in the habit of it.

My son went through this. He is over-all slightly low muscle tone though and he has a metabolic condition that relates to that. When he was drooling he was actually (we think) losing muscle tone and when we started another treatment for his metabolic condition it went away nearly immediately. Hopefully, though, it is just teeth. Does he put his hands in his mouth more? Our pediatrician said she sees that return a lot around that age and that can certainly result in more saliva/rashes/etc.

I get the pp saying there were no issues with her. In general, though, those prone to drooling have an open mouth posture/tendency and that is because either they have low muscle tone (more common) there or perhaps nasal issues so they are mouth breathing. I didn't know I had low muscle tone until my son was dx'd with it. It can be pretty mild.

Rachelle, mommy to 8 year old boys!

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My son did this too, right about 3yo. I actually talked to the ped about it, a big deal for me, since we don't do a whole lot of dr. apts. She asked if it seemed like he was having petit mal seizures (no) and asked about any developmental issues I may have observed (none.) It eventually passed. He definitely did not have low muscle tone or any other physical issues, although he is a avid thumb sucker, still today. But I don't think that had much to do with it either; I see it just as one of those things that come and then go with no explaination.

My daughter is doing this at 3....she has serious reflux and thus a "feeding" disorder/failure to thrive-- and drooling can accompany that. So I'm inclined to agree with ariss99 in that feeding problems and pain can be two things to look for.